An 11k commission for  Rylon. This is a slice of life story about Rylon and his cub Osheen spending a day together and visiting a park.

Also, this is my first SFW commission, so I hope you all enjoy :D

Text Version
A Day at the Park
lunarrush

Rylon woke early and saw streams of light flowing into his room through the vertical blind slits and onto the light tan walls. He yawned loudly, stretching his arms high over his head and sucking in air so quickly that the room seemed to spin for just a moment. He turned to the bedside table and picked up the baby monitor tablet resting there. He could hear the light breath of Osheen, still fast asleep in his crib, and smiled as he turned on the camera for the monitor for a moment to see his son curled up, one blanket held tightly to his side and his thumb pressed in his mouth.

Rylon got to his feet and scratched the back of his neck as he grabbed up his soft robe and wrapped himself in it as he shivered slightly from the lightly chilly morning spring air. He walked out of the master bedroom, the monitor tablet under one arm and his favorite coffee mug in the other hand as he made his way through the living room and down the hall and past the sleeping tyke’s room. He entered the kitchen and took a deep breath of the already brewing dark roast brew: almost bitter but wonderful to waken the senses and prepare for the day. He went to the kitchen sink and started filling the mug with hot water and a bit of soap to wash the ring of dry coffee from its previous day’s use.

As Rylon let the mug rest in the sink to soak for a moment the kangalion turned to a cupboard devoted almost entirely to his cub. There were several varieties of baby food lining one shelf, large canisters of formula, bottles, bibs, and small plastic tipped utensils perfect for feeding any one-year old. He held his hand to his chin for a moment, considering if today should be a simple formula breakfast or a shredded wheat kind of day. Eventually he settled on the shredded wheat, and pulled it out before starting a pan of lukewarm water heating on the stove.

As he let the water heat, Rylon washed his mug out, rinsed it thoroughly, then poured a cup of the warm scented liquid and some creamer into the mug. He added just a bit of sugar, then stirred it before taking a drink and sighing contentedly. He sat at his usual chair in the kitchen and enjoyed the soft sounds of morning creeping in through the windows. He could still hear the sound of soft breathing from the monitor on the table and the occasional mumble as the cub grew closer and closer to waking up. He sipped the wonderfully full flavored coffee, enjoying the way its flavor seemed to cling to his throat all the way down and the way it seemed to send a spark of alertness through his body that shook off the last of the sleepiness in his body.

The coffee maker jingled lightly, letting the kangalion know there were another 6 cups waiting for him anytime he wanted them. There were days he would go through the whole pot, others when he would end up washing most of the brew down the sink after a few hours. He moved to the stove to continue cooking the shredded wheat, adding it to the water and rapidly reducing the heat. He watched as the tiny cereal flakes soaked up the water rapidly and wondered for a moment what he’d eat for breakfast. He turned away for just a moment to the fridge and pulled out two eggs and a canned ham and started making an omelet as he heard stirring from the monitor: wouldn’t be too long now before Osheen was awake.

Rylon expertly prepared his omelet while stirring the quickly cooking cereal. He turned the heat off then moved the sauce pan of cereal to the back burner before adding a splash of milk straight from the carton to chill it to near perfection for the tyke who was even now making sounds indicative of being awake or very close. He folded his own breakfast after adding some of the canned ham and just a bit of cheese to the mix. He moved to the table to check up on the tyke, looked at the monitor tablet and saw Osheen wriggling lightly in his cute race car pjs.

Rylon returned to the stovetop and saw the cheese in his omelet was just starting to melt. He set it on the rear burner and turned off the heat, then walked toward the cub’s nursery with a smile on his face, and to the side of the deer’s crib. “Aww, good morning lil man, you have a good rest?” Rylon asked as he looked down at the cub with a bright smile. Osheen grunted lightly, as he reached a hand up and rubbed an eye drowsily.

The kangalion immediately noticed the droop at the cub’s crotch despite the pjs: Osheen needed a morning change. He chuckled, “Well well, looks like someone’s just about to be swimming. Lets get you changed cutie.” he said as he reached over the side of the crib and easily picked up the deer. Osheen giggled very slightly from the way the kangalion’s paws brushing his side tickled very slightly, but was easily hoisted out of the crib and over to the changing table by Rylon’s firm hands.

The deer shivered very lightly as the slightly chilly morning air washed over him as Rylon removed his footed race car pjs. The kangalion easily pulled his changing equipment over and unstrapped the soaked night time Sesame Street diaper from the cub’s waist. He diligently worked with all the firm gentleness of a dad, first wiping away at his son’s diaper area with several wet wipes before applying a liberal layer of oil and powder. He then slid a thinner daytime diaper below the cub’s rump and started wrapping it into place as Osheen looked around the room, obviously trying to decide on something more fun to do than lay here to get his pampers changed.

Rylon finished up by snagging a baby blue onesie from a stack he kept nearby. He pulled the mid sleeved onesie into place over the wiggling cub’s head, snapping the buttons over his crotch and into place. “Alright lil man, time for breakfast,” the kangalion said as he gently lifted Osheen from the changing table.

“Can we eat in the living room daddy, I wanna watch some cartoons!” the deer said excitedly as he looked up, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Hmm, sure thing bud,” Rylon said with a chuckle as he carried the cub along the hallway and into the living room. He set Osheen down in his playpen where a few blocks and stuffed animals were already waiting for him. He turned on the television and started flipping through all the channels before finally landing on one that was playing Paw Patrol. He could see the cub’s face light up as he turned to watch the rather large tv through the mesh walls of the pen.

Rylon returned to the kitchen, listening to Osheen’s happy giggles at the cartoon he’d left on. He grabbed his coffee mug and topped it up before setting a bowl out and then plating his omelet. The kangalion washed his hands then stuck his pinkie tip into the shredded wheat to make sure it was the perfect warm temperature for the deer. He felt it was near perfect, then he grabbed the bottle of formula and started mixing up a bottle for the deer to have at breakfast.

The roo heated the bottle to the perfect temperature for the faun, testing it on his arm before returning to the living room. He saw from the doorway that Osheen was building a pyramid with the blocks in the crib and had plushes put to either side of it. As soon as he sat down though the young deer moved to the side of the pen and used the mesh wall to help pull himself to his feet. Rylon was incredibly proud that Osheen could already walk quite well despite being only one-year old. The young deer looked back and fourth from the television to the lion as Rylon sat the bowl and his own breakfast on the coffee table and spooned out some of the shredded wheat for Osheen.

The deer moved in just a bit too excitedly and ended up dribbling about half the spoonful down his face while the other half ended up in his mouth. As the milky cereal flowed down the toddler’s face Rylon chuckled. “Looks like you’re getting a bath today too kiddo,” he said as he scooped up another spoonful and pushed it toward his son’s mouth.

Osheen took the next bite far more carefully then turned back toward the show excitedly as one of the characters seemed to be in the middle of saving somebody. Rylon didn’t particularly pay much attention to the show, but it made him smile to see Osheen so excited for what what happening on the television. He scooped another bite up and held it out, but the faun was far too caught up in the show and Rylon decided to use another tactic.

“Here comes the choo-choo train, open the tunnel~” he said playfully, getting Osheen’s attention and moving the bite in while making chugging noises gently. The faun turned to him with a huge smile and opened far wider than needed to eat the bite up. He bit it off the spoon playfully. “Ooh, looks like a shark got that bite,” the lion teased as Osheen toddled a bit around the crib biting the air playfully.

The lion got another bite ready and started moving it around the crib ahead of the cub. He led Osheen back to the wall and waited for the deer to grab the side before feeding it to him, and chuckled as the faun made an exaggerated nom noise. Osheen had nearly finished all the cereal, so Rylon got the rest of it together on one final bite and held it out for the cub. “Oh no, the shark’s going to eat all the food,” he said with a smile toward Osheen, who began to creep up on the spoon. Rylon pulled back to ensure the deer wouldn’t hurt himself or fall when he pushed forward and snapped up the last bite. “Alright buddy, you did awesome! Here, I made a bottle for ya, go ahead and drink that while daddy’s eating.” the kangalion said as he handed over the warm bottle and sat back into the couch.

The Paw Patrol episode had ended and been replaced with a strange show that Rylon hadn’t seen on the channel before. He picked up his still quite warm omelet and watched along with Osheen as several colorful bird-like alien people bounced around and made strange noises while dancing. The faun took a large gulp from the bottle, finishing about a quarter of it, before setting it down on the padded floor of the playpen and turning toward the television.

Rylon ate his food as he watched the tot starting to mime the strange creatures on the television. The proud father could hardly help the smile on his face as he heard Osheen giggling and watched him bouncing around, spinning, and occasionally falling down. The padded pen was large enough that the deer was able to do all the dancing away from the blocks, but Rylon kept a close watch on his son to ensure that if things got too crazy he could react and stop any problems from happening. Osheen was actually playing rather carefully though, and after getting bored with bouncing around with the strange creatures he went back to the block pyramid.

Rylon watched as he carefully built the pyramid up, eventually leaving a platform on the top where he put a third plush. “King bunny!” the faun cheered as Rylon finished his food and grabbed the empty food bowl. He moved to the kitchen and started quickly washing the breakfast dishes up. He could hear Osheen playing in the other room over the noise of the strange alien creatures on the television as he scrubbed the pans and bowls and plates. He set them in the drainer and returned to the living room to see that Osheen was sitting on the block pyramid now.

“Daddy look, I’m king Osheen,” he said with a clap of his hands. The proud daddy couldn’t help but smile at the tyke.

“Yep, and look at what a good job you did building that pyramid lil man, its holding up super well,” Rylon said encouragingly. Osheen clapped again, so hard he nearly toppled backward into the mesh wall of the pen, but managed to catch himself in time as he beamed up at Rylon incredibly happily.

“Hey, since you’re such a good builder I need your help with something,” Rylon said playfully.

The faun looked up at Rylon excitedly, “Sure thing daddy, what you want help with?” the faun said excited to help the kangalion out. Rylon walked to the couch and pulled out what he’d just gotten for Osheen: a rather large foam puzzle.

“Well lil man, I bought this puzzle and just can’t figure it out. Want to help me put it together?” he said as he opened the package and scattered the pieces out on the living room floor.

Osheen looked proudly toward Rylon, “Yeah daddy, I like puzzles!” he said excitedly as the lion picked him up and put him on the carpet outside the pen. The faun immediately toddled over and started investigating the pieces. Each had a letter or a number on it, leaving 36 total pieces. They went in order, and though Rylon knew Osheen didn’t have a full grasp on the alphabet but he hoped this would help him to start learning it just a bit.

The deer started by pulling all the corner and edge pieces to the sides. The two of them had done smaller puzzles in the past and the faun knew that was how the lion normally started out. Rylon sat down and laid out a picture of the finished puzzle for the faun to look at to the side. “Alright, so which piece should we start with?” Rylon asked as Osheen moved over to look at the puzzle.

The deer walked to his pile of edge and corner pieces and took a look at each corner carefully. He pulled the A out of the bunch and held the large foam puzzle piece up proudly. “This one,” he said excitedly as he set it down.

“Yep, looks like that one has an A on it, that’s the first letter of the alphabet. I bet that’s the trick to doing this puzzle. Ooh, I think I even have something that can help us out,” the kangalion said as he picked up the television remote and went to the dvr. He went through the recorded shows quickly and found one he’d recorded where barney was singing and holding up letters of the alphabet and numbers. “I bet if we watch this we could even do it without the picture, lets give it a try,” Rylon said playfully as he started the episode.

---

The two of them watched the whole episode, and Rylon paused whenever they needed to find a letter. Osheen searched out each piece diligently, matching up the symbol to the one in Barney’s hand and handing them to the kangalion. The faun beamed the whole time they worked together to finish the puzzle: Rylon pressing the pieces into place and Osheen finding them. Finally, they finished the last of the puzzle and Rylon pulled the picture back out, showing it to the faun.

“Wow, look at that, we got it all without having to look at the picture! You did awesome lil man,” Rylon said proudly, causing Osheen to giggle and give the lion a hug. Rylon heard the deer yawn, and knew it was about time for the little guy’s mid-morning nap.

Rylon picked up Osheen and held him in one arm and moved toward the kitchen. “Alright, lets get you a bottle little guy, we’ll sit back and watch another barney episode for a while, I’m kinda tired after all that work on the puzzle,” the lion said as Osheen chuckled.

“Silly daddy, you get tired too fast,” the tot said as he wiggled subtly in Rylon’s arms. It was obvious he was getting sleepy whether from habit of taking a nap near this time every day or from putting the puzzle together. “I’m not ready for a nap though,” the deer whined as Rylon started mixing a bottle with his free hand while keeping the faun cradled with his other arm easily.

“Oh, I know, I just want to sit down and watch some shows with ya. You don’t have to nap if you don’t want to,” he said as he put the top on the bottle and gently shook it up before popping it into the microwave. The kangalion reached a hand down and slid a finger against the faun’s waistband: wet as expected. “First things first though, someone needs a diaper change,” Rylon said as he walked toward the faun’s nursery.

Rylon set Osheen down on the table and gathered supplies as the cub gave him a bit of a pouty look. “Aww, don’t worry little guy, I’ll get this sorted out pretty quick and we can watch some more television,” Rylon said with a chuckle before untaping the faun’s soaked diaper and lifting Osheen up and off before replacing it with the fresh padding. He wasted no time applying a dusting of white talcum to the cub’s crotch and taping up the diaper. He lifted Osheen up again, went to the kitchen to get the bottle, and then walked to the living room.

The kangalion sat in his favorite spot on the couch and grabbed the remote control, changing the television back to the baby station. Rylon laid his faun back against his arm and held the bottle up to his mouth. The deer fussed a moment before opening his mouth and sighing contentedly. The cub’s attention hardly turned from the barney episode, one that talked about weather, and he slowly nursed at the bottle gently. Rylon gently rocked the cub by bouncing his knee, and watched as Osheen’s eyes slowly started to droop. The kangalion slowed the bumping the more tired the faun looked before ending altogether as he started to hear the light breathing of the sleeping cub in his arms.

Rylon reached his free hand over, set the now empty bottle down, and grabbed the remote up to change the channel to one playing the news for a moment. He let Osheen rest right there in his lap as he watched a story about how a local girl scout troop had saved a bunch of kittens from a tree. After the story changed to one about how to cook using computer parts he realized it must be the world’s slowest news day. He turned off the television and gently stood up, holding the sleeping faun in his arms.

Rylon set Osheen down in the playpen, expertly lowering him so he didn’t stir more than an extra long breath in. Rylon moved one of the plushes over as a pillow for the sleeping faun, then grabbed the forgotten bottle from earlier that day. He moved out of the room, walking quietly into the kitchen where he drew some dish water and set the bottles into the sink. He moved to the fridge and started looking through it, knowing he’d have to feed the tot when he woke up.

The kangalion couldn’t help but frown as he saw the fridge had very little in it that looked remotely appetizing without a lot of preparation. His tail twitched as he sorted through all the healthy options, then he looked in the cupboard at the several jars of baby food there. The deer had been getting more and more used to eating solid foods and took less and less to the various jars of baby food every day. He thought for a moment, then turned and saw the stroller sitting by the door and knew just what to do: he’d take Osheen on a walk to the food court and park after his nap.

Rylon quickly finished up the bottles, setting them to dry in the dish rack and then went into Osheen’s nursery. He grabbed the diaper bag he kept under the changing table and started packing everything he’d need. He started with a change of clothes for the cub, packing them at the bottom of the bag. He moved on to diapering supplies, grabbing a couple day diapers just in case the cub needed them. He packed one of Osheen’s plushies, and finally a spare empty bottle and a portable sized tub of formula. He stepped back out of the room and took a look in the living room to see that Osheen was still fast asleep before moving back to the table.

---

Rylon spent most of Osheen’s nap answering emails and playing a few games quietly on his phone. After a few minutes sitting at the kitchen table he moved back in the living room quietly, and couldn’t help but smile when he saw the deer reach out and pull one of the nearby plushes into his arms, hugging it close and looking utterly content. Eventually he turned on the television again, letting the news play quietly in the background despite the day’s stories being mostly about how unseasonably warm this spring had been.

Eventually, however, the kangalion heard the fawn stir in his sleep and he turned toward the pen. Osheen yawned and turned toward his daddy with a sleepy smile. “Well, there we go, guess you were just a little more tired than you thought huh? Well, I was thinking maybe we should go to the park and maybe get some lunch after,” Rylon said to the yawning cub.

Osheen stretched out and smacked his lips together. “Yay, the park sounds fun daddy,” the faun said excitedly, obviously recharged by the nap. Rylon chuckled and got to his own feet with a stretch before picking Osheen up. The kangalion checked the faun’s diaper, it could definitely hold more, then carried the cub to his nursery before looking at his options for what to put on him. He eventually decided on a pair of elastic waistband shorts and a tiny pair of sneakers. Rylon pulled a pair of soft socks on, Velcro-ed the faun’s shoes on, then walked with the cub over to the stroller.

Osheen wiggled as he was strapped into the forward facing pram. Yet, Rylon expertly wrapped the buckles into place and grabbed the plush from the diaper bag. “Want to hold him?” the kangalion asked as he held the Stitch doll out for Osheen. The cub reached his hands out and grabbed the plush: this was one of his favorites to bring on walks and at the park. The kangalion easily pushed the stroller to the door, opened it up, and pushed the two of them outside before locking the door behind him.

The one story build of the house made it easy to get going as there weren’t even any stairs up to the front door. He walked along the short path to the main sidewalk, plugged a headphone in one ear, then started off down the road whistling happily along to the music.

Osheen looked around as they moved down the street, marveling at all the freshly blooming flowers. Rylon took a moment to put the top of the stroller up so the brilliant sunlight wasn’t shining too fully on the cub within. It had been several months since they’d last gone to the park, but now that the chill of winter was finally letting go Rylon was happy to be able to take the faun out on a nice walk again. The two of them made their way up the quiet street and toward the elementary school. Though school would still be in session the school shared a playground with the local park: and the food court inside served patrons all day long except during school lunch time.

They made their way past a parked police car who waved at them as they moved past. Rylon waved back to the friendly bear officer who kept an eye on the park most days. He moved the stroller off the sidewalk onto one of the park paths and toward the playground.

The playground had all the equipment you’d expect. There were multiple swings, several slides, benches for parents, teeter totters, and the entire thing was in a large sandbox with buckets and shovels provided. Soft grass and thin concrete paths surrounded the play area, and large trees shaded the area in long spindly patterns of branches with only budding leaves. The large elementary school had an entrance from both this side and from the far side and shone like a beacon in the distance.

Rylon bent down and started to unstrap Osheen from the stroller. The cub was wriggling in excitement, “Daddy, we should build a sand castle and play on the swings and go down the slides!”

The beaming daddy gave Osheen a kind smile. “Yup, we’re gonna have a lot of fun,” he said as he set Osheen down and took his hand. The larger lion gently walked forward, helping Osheen toddle his way through the grass and into the sandbox area. He let the faun lead the way from there, and Osheen immediately went for one of the sand buckets that was shaped like the battlements of a castle.

Rylon sat down in the sand box next to his cub and helped Osheen fill the castle bucket. The sand in this area of the box was slightly damp, likely from the lawn sprinklers being set to hit it in the early morning so it would be easier for cubs to build with. After the bucket was full Rylon helped Osheen turn it over, then tapped the sides and gently lifted it away. Of course, one tower wasn’t nearly enough for the faun, “hey daddy, can you fill up a wall one while I fill this one up again?” Osheen asked as he handed Rylon one of the buckets.

“Sure thing lil man,” Rylon said as he grabbed his shovel and started filling the bucket. He turned it over, setting out a wall for the cub and then went to help Osheen finish filling his bucket up. He turned it over and set up a second battlement: the castle had a full wall.

They repeated the process several times more, building four walls in a square, and Osheen looked the whole thing over from the outside. “Wow, this is an awesome castle, can you put me inside daddy?” he asked as he looked the whole thing over.

“Sure thing lil man,” Rylon said with a smile as he lifted Osheen up and over the wall. The cub stood and looked over the battlements that came up to about his waist. “Hmm, I think I wanna draw on the walls,” Osheen said as he held a finger out and started gently dragging it through the wet sand.

Rylon grabbed the Stitch plushie that had been set to the side when they’d started working on the sand castle and set it on one of the walls facing into the castle. Osheen carefully drew on the walls with his fingers, scraping sand away nnd making a picture that kind of looked like a rather large sun. Rylon smiled as he watched his son playing in the sand. “That’s some good drawing lil man, you’re gonna be an artist some day,” he said with a kind smile as Osheen turned toward him with the smile of a cub at play. The roo pulled his phone out and took a quick picture of the faun, then leaned back a bit and let the warm breeze wash over him while Osheen continued his drawing.

Osheen pushed just a bit too hard on one of the walls as he drew, and the whole castle went crumbling down. The faun looked shocked at first, then his eyes welled up. “I-I...” he sobbed before starting to cry. Rylon moved in immediately, scooping the tot up and grabbing Stitch up in his other hand.

The kangalion moved to one of the nearby benches, removing the cub from the situation. “Hey buddy, its alright. We can make a new one, sand castles don’t last too long,” he said as he held the softly sobbing faun on his lap.

“I-but my drawings,” he said, taking a gasp between each high pitched word. Rylon patted the cub on the back and slowly moved Stitch into his arms.

“Its alright, look, I got a picture of your drawings. I’ll put it on the fridge when we get home,” he said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed it to the deer. Osheen sniffled a bit as he looked at the picture, obviously a bit more calm but still pretty upset about the castle. “I know, lets go play on the swings for a while,” Rylon said happily as he stood up with Osheen.

The cub wiped his eyes, swings were his favorite thing in the park. The sad look on his face quickly evaporated, leaving only a bit of wet fur on his face as a sign of the brief disappointment. Rylon gently set Osheen down into the baby swing on the end along with the Stitch plushie in his arms then moved around behind the cub.

Rylon started by grabbing the back of the swing and gently pushed it. He stood behind the cub and lightly pushed the swing, not particularly hard but enough that Osheen started to laugh and raise his hands happily. The faun raised his arms up every time Rylon pushed forward, giggling the whole way or squealing in glee as he watched the playground rushing past around him. Rylon could see a couple other parents walking past the park, most of their children just a bit older than Osheen, but none of them stopped by the playground despite the protests of their kids.

When Rylon had the cub up to the highest he wanted to push him he stepped to the side and sat down on one of the other swings. They were built to handle even the weight of a fully grown adult, so he could sit and watch as Osheen started slowing down a bit. The deer looked at him in confusion, and Rylon simply responded with, “We should probably go down a couple of the slides before its time for lunch.”

Rylon let the swing slow down of its own accord, giving Osheen the longest he could on the swing before it finally got low enough to pull the cub out. Osheen clung to Stitch as he was picked up and set back in the sandbox. Rylon grabbed the faun’s hand and walked with him toward the younger children’s section of the playground. It didn’t have nearly as high of slides, however it was much safer and Osheen had a lot of fun on there. He let the small deer climb up the playground sections, and when the faun sat at the top of a slide the lion moved to the bottom and got ready.

Osheen sat down on the slide with Stitch, then started slowly slipping down before starting to go a bit faster due to the slickness. Rylon caught the cub at the bottom of the slide, using the momentum to lift him straight up and off causing the faun to squeal in delight. He set the cub down and watched as he ran back to the shallow steps leading up into the equipment. This time he went along a bit further, unlike the older kid’s playground this section was fairly flat once you got off the ground, then sat down on the slightly higher slide. Rylon readied himself at the bottom as Osheen laid back on the slide and moved forward enough to start down.

The two of them played on the slides for several minutes. Eventually, Osheen didn’t go running back to the start quite as quickly, and Rylon knew it was about time to pack it in and go to lunch. The cub went to the largest slide and scooted forward, his plush held in his lap like always. The two of them went down the slide and Rylon scooped him up as he held onto Stitch tightly. “Alright lil man, I’m getting hungry, time to go to lunch,” Rylon said with a chuckle as he scooped Osheen into one arm and started toward the stroller.

“Aww, daddy, can’t we play a little longer?” Osheen whined, squirming in Rylon’s arms lightly as he looked at the playground desperately.

“Not today buddy, but since its getting to be spring and you’re getting to be so good at the slides I’m sure we’ll be back plenty of times,” Rylon said as he reached the edge of the sand box and the waiting stroller.

Though Osheen looked sad that their time at the playground was over Rylon knew that the cub was getting a bit tuckered out from playing. He stopped at the stroller, and before he strapped Osheen in he gave his diaper a check. It was getting rather saggy, he knew the cub would need a change soon. He opted to head for the food court, they had family restrooms where he could easily give the faun a change. The kangalion took a moment to strap Osheen into the stroller, then started pushing the pram along the path and toward the shining building in the distance.

The school building had the feel of a business office and a mall mashed together. The trees nearby were rather well kept, and most of the building was made up of stark steel and glass. The ground floor, however, was the remains of an old elementary school that had been built in an age before all the cold industrialization. This was red brick, and had rippled glass windows looking in on the kindergarten classrooms. The grounds nearest the school classrooms was fenced off and a rather imposing gate stood between the building and the playground that was only opened during recesses and lunches. The path led onward toward the section of the building open to the public however: the food court stood in a separated section of the school and was flanked on its other side by the middle school.

Rather than a typical school lunch the schools had opted to allow several healthy fast alternatives to build their restaurants into a food court in the building. The students were given vouchers that let them choose a restaurant to order a lunch from and members of the community were encouraged to come get lunch. The kangalion could already see several people sitting at the tables in the court, eating their own food and not paying anything much outside their own lives much attention.

The kangalion pushed the stroller up to the bike parking and swiftly locked the pram up before grabbing the diaper bag and Osheen out of it. He walked into the court and turned immediately to the right toward the restrooms. They were kept particularly pristine by the janitorial staff of the schools and he readily walked into the family restroom with his cub.

There was nobody in the restroom and the area was divided into four rather large stalls. Rylon moved into the first open stall and locked the door behind him before pulling open the changing station built into the wall of the cubical. The kangalion set his faun on the table and opened the diaper bag, easily fishing fresh padding from it along with the bottle of talcum and baby wipes. He pulled the elastic shorts off the cub, revealing the waterlogged Elmo diaper that was practically begging Rylon’s daddy instincts to change it.

“Well well, guess I know where those bottles went huh?” Rylon teased as he untaped the front of the padding and started cleaning the cub’s damp fur with one of the wet wipes. He used several more, taking care to clean as much of Osheen’s fur as he could before tossing the wipes into the diaper, balling it up, and tossing it into the stall’s trash can.

Osheen looked around as his daddy lifted him onto the fresh diaper, taking in the sight of the professionally clean stall. This wasn’t the first time he’d been changed in here, but he never quite understood how they could make it shine so brightly that all the metal around them reflected back at him. Before much longer had passed Rylon finished powdering the cub’s diaper area and taping him into the cookie monster patterned diaper. He snapped the onesie back into place and pulled the elastic shorts back up. “Alright, I’m thinking a wrap and some fries, what do you think?” Rylon asked as he held Osheen close and started back into the food court.

Osheen smiled, he’d only gotten to try a wrap one time before and he’d adored it. It was something that his daddy let him eat on his own as long as he had a bib on, so it was really cool too. “Sounds great daddy!” Osheen shouted happily as they walked back into the main part of the room and started for the bright red restaurant.

Rylon approached the counter where a pretty middle aged chipmunk stood waiting and keeping an eye on the patrons of the food court. As she saw the two of them approach she smiled widely, “Well hello there, what can I get the two of you?” she asked as she looked from Rylon to Osheen.

Osheen smiled happily at the lady, “I’d like a cubs wrap please,” he said cutely as Rylon chuckled lightly.

“Alright big guy, and what would you like?” the lady said as she turned toward Rylon.

“Hmm, I think I’d like your five meal deal, the one with a wrap so we match,” Rylon said as he hoisted Osheen against his hip a bit.

“Alright then, I’ll have those ready for you guys in just a bit. Not sure if you knew, but today’s our giving back to the community day. So there’s no charge,” the lady said chipperly. “So, how much longer before you’ll be going to this school little guy?” the chipmunk continued as she fed the order into the computer with far more button presses than Rylon would guess it would take.

“He’s still got quite a while, he’ll be two this summer,” Rylon said proudly as Osheen took an interest in a sticker the chipmunk was peeling off a roll.

“Well now, he’s quite a smart little guy for that young, you must be raising him right,” the chipmunk said with a big smile as she handed the sticker over to Osheen, causing the deer to show it to Rylon with a grin on his face. It depicted a strange purple monster with spring antennae on it, and the deer stuck it to his chest.

“Thank you, yep, he’s gonna be a genius some day,” Rylon said proudly as the chipmunk finally finished ringing the order up. A meal ticket printed up, and she handed it to the kangalion with a friendly, “I’ll bring that right out when its done.”

Rylon went to the side of the restaurant storefront and grabbed one of the high chairs. He drug it over to the table side and gently deposited his faun inside before buckling him in. He grabbed Stitch and put the plush away in the diaper bag for the meal before grabbing one of the wet wipes. He started scrubbing the cub’s hands, getting the layer of sand and dirt that had settled on them from all the play off. It took a few wipes, but he was eventually satisfied that Osheen’s hands were cleaned and started doing the same to his own.

It took almost no time for the restaurant to cook their food, and soon enough the chipmunk was bringing out a tray with their meals on it. Rylon’s consisted of a large plate of very fresh fries and a large wrap, Osheen’s consisted of a much smaller wrap and a bag of apples with caramel dipping sauce. Of course, there was also a toy on the tray, held inside one of the restaurant’s trademark paper toy sacks. “Have a great day!” the chipper chipmunk said with a bright smile as she turned and gave Osheen a pat on the head then walked back to the restaurant.

Osheen immediately grabbed for the toy bag and tore it open so he could see what was inside. There was a beanbag version of the purple guy on the sticker, and Osheen seemed beyond pleased with it as he gave it to Rylon to keep in the diaper bag for the moment.

The kangalion started the meal by pulling a bib out of the diaper bag and tied it around Osheen’s neck. He then opened the paper around the cub wrap for Osheen. Just as expected it had been made with rice and finely ground ingredients that would suit a cub of his age rather well. The restaurant was rather well known for making sure to make food suitable for cubs of all ages: something nice for a restaurant in a split school like this one. The lion handed his cub the wrap and got his own out. He kept a close eye on Osheen, who started out with a rather large bite that left a bit of sauce on either side of his mouth.

Rylon watched the cub closely as he ate, he’d only just started letting Osheen eat a few things on his own and he wanted to make sure his faun would be alright. Osheen did rather well chewing the soft wrap, though he was a bit messy about it. Sauce dribbled down the faun’s chin liberally, and thankfully the bib saved his onesie from a similar fate. The two of them ate in relative quiet, broken occasionally by happy grunts from the cub as he enjoyed the flavor of the wrap. As they finished eating, however, Rylon noticed that the apples were still in their bag. “Alright lil man, you all full?” the kangalion asked with a kind smile as he pulled a wet wipe out and started cleaning the trails of sauce from Osheen’s mouth.

The faun smiled brightly, though he seemed to be a bit tired out from the time on the playground. Even though he had all the energy of an older toddler while at play he had the sleeping schedule of an infant still. Rylon knew he might last until six to seven o’clock, then it’d be bedtime. “Alright champ, I think its time to head home,” Rylon said with a smile as he finished cleaning the tot’s face with the wet wipe. The kangalion unbuckled the high chair and picked Osheen up and out of it. The two of them walked back toward the doorway and out to the stroller. Rylon easily unlocked the stroller after setting Osheen inside, then noticed the cub was fussing.

“Where’s Stitch?” Osheen asked as he looked around and wriggled in his seat. Rylon smiled, opened the diaper bag, and pulled the Stitch plush out. Osheen gave the plush a big hug as Rylon moved to the back of the stroller and started to push it along the shaded paths. The screams of children at play could be heard from the school section of the playground, the kids were already on their afternoon recess. The wind blew, the chill of winter still lightly present on it like an extract of cold on an otherwise unseasonably warm day.

As the two of them walked along Rylon took a look at all the people out doing yard work. They passed an older woman planting row after row of beautiful purple flowers in a flower box that wound along the pathway to her house. The lion even caught the scent of lavender coming from a bush that was positively bursting with tiny flower bulbs ready to burst open. As he listened to his music in one ear he started to hear the tell-tale heavy breathing of an exhausted tot coming from the stroller. He bent down and took a look, only to smile softly as he saw Osheen leaning forward against the stroller restraints, resting his head on the plush still held tightly in his arms.

The two of them didn’t take too much longer to get home. Rylon took it easy, gently rolling the pram along to avoid waking the sleeping faun as he heard Osheen mutter very slightly from time to time. As they got home, Rylon pushed the stroller inside, rolling it right up to the deer’s playpen. The kangalion worked quietly and softly, taking his time to prevent the cub from waking up as he slowly unbuckled the straps keeping the snoozing tot in the carriage before lifting him out and into the pen. Osheen seemed to stir for a moment, opening his eyes and looking around before hugging Stitch in closer and falling back to sleep.

Rylon chuckled and moved into the kitchen. He grabbed the baby monitor tablet and moved it to the monitor camera he kept in the living room. He walked with it to the garage, listening to the soft breathing from the tablet as he started to look through their yard care materials. There wasn’t much here, a bit of top soil, some grass seed, a few tomato seeds he’d never really considered planting. Maybe the two of them would plant a few flowers or something later this spring. He knew he was definitely going to have to do something in their back yard: while it had great grass it was pretty much devoid of furniture and he knew Osheen would be wanting to spend more and more time outdoors this year.

As he looked through the garage he saw the walker that Osheen had used for about two months before moving on to walking on his own. The kangalion was remarkably proud that his son had mastered something so important so early in life. It still made him feel a bit nostalgic, he knew Osheen would grow up far faster than he could imagine and he was just glad to be able to spend time with his cub whenever he could while he was still this young.

Rylon left the garage, thinking over what they’d need if he did want to do any yard work with Osheen. He walked back through the house and back into his bedroom. He turned on the television, not really caring what was on but more wanting the light background noise as he started cleaning up a bit. As he made his bed he took a look at the tablet and saw Osheen was still asleep, Rylon expected he’d probably rest for at least a while.

---

Rylon finished cleaning his room and the rest of the house. He kept a pretty close eye on the monitor, but Osheen kept sleeping for most of the afternoon. He eventually went to lay down in his room, resting on top of the covers but never truly falling asleep as he enjoyed a movie. Eventually he heard a whine from the baby monitor. He took a look at the screen and saw that Osheen was standing up, the faun’s lip was quivering slightly as he looked around. “Daddy?” he asked as he searched the room. Rylon immediately stood and walked to the living room. As the kangalion walked out of his room into the living room he saw Osheen seemed to be on the verge of tears. As the faun looked toward him though the frown turned into a smile as he held the side of the playpen for support.

“Alright little guy, how about we play some video games together?” Rylon asked as he pulled out two controllers. One was his Playstation controller, the other an old super Nintendo controller that had stopped working years ago. Osheen cheered as Rylon handed him the old controller and pressed the power button on the actual controller.

The kangalion sat on the couch and scrolled through the available games, eventually settling on Okami. He’d been playing this one for a while now and thought he might actually be getting close to the final boss. He couldn’t be sure, however, as he’d not seen anything about the game before starting it and it had already faked him out twice with a boss that felt like it was the finale of the game. As he started the game he saw Osheen pushing buttons on the controller and staring at the game intently, though Rylon knew the controller wouldn’t do anything in the game it still excited Osheen to get to play games with his Daddy.

Rylon started the game up and started running around the frozen northern land he’d left off in. Osheen was leaning back and fourth as he pressed on the controller, and Rylon occasionally turned his character the way the tyke turned to encourage him to keep acting so cute. As they fought through imp after imp, Rylon kept a close eye on the time. He knew he wanted to give the faun a bath before bed tonight, and didn’t want Osheen getting too tired before he got a chance.

---

As the two of them played the game Osheen eventually started to look a bit bored. Rylon looked at the clock and realized that a full hour had passed, so he quickly went to the nearest save point and saved the game. As he finished up the save and turned off the system he went to pick up Osheen, who seemed to be getting ready to eat again. Rylon was full still from lunch, but knew Osheen would be ready to eat due to a smaller serving. He carried the faun along into the kitchen, then put him down in his high chair.

The high chair was actually one that was designed to act more like a booster seat, but came with a tray for younger cubs. The kangalion had bought it knowing he’d eventually be moving on to a booster seat and wanting to save money, and it did its job well enough. It could even be detached from the chair in the event he needed a place to put Osheen when he was working somewhere but the living room and the faun insisted on being with him.

After he’d finished strapping the faun in he turned toward the cupboard and put a hand to his chin: what was he going to feed Osheen tonight? He knew the cub had taken a liking to solid foods more and more lately, yet he was loathe to leave a bunch of unused jars of baby food. He grabbed up a jar or two, and found one that was called turkey in gravy. He opened it, then dumped the jar of near liquid food into a bowl before setting it in the microwave.

Osheen started to squirm in his chair as the food heated. “Daddy! Can’t I have something else?” the faun asked as he wriggled in his seat.

Rylon chuckled a bit, “Hmm, not today, but I think I have something special to help it go down better,” Rylon said as he opened the fridge and pulled out the apples and caramel he’d saved from the restaurant. He put the apples into a small food processor along with the caramel, then started blending them into caramel applesauce.

The microwave rang and the apples were done, so Rylon grabbed the two bowls and brought them over to the table. He brought two spoons, one for the somewhat thin gravy-like substance and the other for the very sweet looking apples. He started with a spoonful of the turkey baby food, and Osheen ate it with a shudder. It was obvious it wasn’t his favorite, but it had to be better than some of the green jars. Rylon kept feeding the tyke the turkey, working to get through it quickly. The faun became more and more fussy by the bite, eventually turning his head and outright refusing to take another bite.

Rylon chuckled, picked up the other bowl, and held a bite of the homemade applesauce before the tot. “Here, try this instead, I promise it’ll be better,” he said as Osheen gave the spoon an incredulous look. He bent forward and gave it a lick, pulling back reflexively before the look on his face changed entirely. His lips uncurled from the sour expression that had been on them ever since he’d started eating the turkey and he got a bright smile on his face as he ate the spoonful quickly.

“Mmm, that’s good!” Osheen said cheerfully. Rylon couldn’t help but chuckle at just how quickly the cub’s mood had changed around.

“Alright, and you have a whole bowl of that waiting for you as soon as you finish these last two of the turkey,” Rylon coaxed as he set the bowl of extra sweet applesauce down and picked up the nearly empty bowl of turkey.

Osheen wriggled in his seat, obviously torn on wanting to finish the mushy baby food. He took a look at the spoonful that Rylon held out like it was some kind of poison. As the kangalion pushed the bite forward the faun opened his mouth, though reluctantly. The cub shuddered as he swallowed down the first bite, then whined as he looked at the second one. The faun turned his mouth away from the food, “C-can I just have the other stuff?” he said as he covered his mouth.

Rylon chuckled, he honestly hadn’t expected to get even this much into the cub. “Hmm, you’ve done pretty good eating this stuff. Sure thing lil man,” he said kindly as he put the spoon back into the nearly empty bowl and then scooped up some of the applesauce. Osheen looked back cheerfully as Rylon moved the spoonful toward the cub’s mouth. He bounced just a bit too much as some of the course sauce dribbled to the sides of his mouth as he gulped down the spoonful as quickly as he could.

It took nearly no time to finish the sauce up. Quite a bit of the dinner was dribbled down the faun’s front, either from turning away from the spoon when he didn’t want to take a bite or from it leaking out the side of his mouth when he took the bite. The kangalion chuckled, carried the two bowls over to the sink, and started filling them up with water while letting Osheen sit in the high chair for now. When the cub started whining and wriggling just a bit too much the roo grabbed one of the clean bottles from the dish drainer and quickly mixed up a bottle.

Osheen was looking around in boredom as Rylon placed the perfectly heated bottle on the tray. “Alright bud, you go ahead and drink that up while I’m doing the dishes real quick, then we’ll go get you a bath,” the lion chuckled as he turned back toward the sink. Osheen lifted the bottle to his lips, slowly sucking away at the tepid formula as Rylon got right to work on the dishes. Rylon hadn’t warmed much formula, he knew Osheen would want one for bedtime as well and didn’t want to risk a leaky diaper if he could avoid it. He easily cleaned the dishes up, and just as he finished he heard Osheen set the bottle down on the tray.

Rylon moved over and set the bottle off the tray. He released the cub from the restraints and picked him up. The two of them moved toward the bathroom, Osheen still slightly sticky from dinner and Rylon moved into the bathroom and turned on the water tap to a remembered perfect spot. The tub already had several toys in it, Rylon basically kept them in there when they weren’t in use because he knew the faun would want to play with them during bath time.

Rylon let the tub start to fill and started to undress the cub in his arms. He started with the dinner covered shorts, onesie, and bib: tossing them all into the clothes hamper next to the sink. He waited with Osheen on his lap as the cub looked at all the toys floating in the tub like he was planning what he was going to do once he was in there.

Rylon didn’t draw the bath too deep, and turned off the water shortly after starting it. He reached his hand in to make sure the temperature was what he expected, then slowly removed the cub’s diaper and set him gently in the water.

Osheen immediately grabbed up a small tugboat that was floating in the lightly warm water. He started gliding it along the surface as Rylon grabbed a bottle of no tears fur shampoo and conditioner from the side of the tub and squeezed a generous portion out into his hand. As the cub played, Rylon grabbed a cup he kept near the tub and started gently pouring some of the bath water over the cub’s back and even up to his head, taking care to angle the cup so the water didn’t flow into Osheen’s eyes.

Rylon gently washed Osheen while the cub squealed in pleasure and played with the boat. The faun was attempting to drive the boat over the rubber duck, but the water current kept the small floating rubber duck just ahead of him as he crawled around the tub slowly while Rylon washed him off. The kangalion took extra care to wash Osheen’s diaper zone, ensuring the cub wouldn’t have to worry about a diaper rash anytime soon.

As Rylon finished up washing Osheen he grabbed one of the toys, a rubber pirate captain, and put it onboard Osheen’s tug boat. The cub giggled at the lion as he stopped the boat for a moment and went to grab the duck. “That guy’s gonna help the boat catch the duck,” the faun said matter of factly as he reached out and grabbed the duck before pulling it up and onto the boat’s front.

“Yep, looks like the captain helped get the duck on the boat, what are they gonna do now though?” Rylon said with a chuckle as the cub started looking around the tub. He saw the washcloth Rylon had used to scrub him floating in the water, then started moving the boat closer to it, nearly sending both the duck and the other toy off into the soapy water. The cub planted the tip of the boat against the washcloth, then pulled the little guy off and put him down so he was standing on the half floating washcloth.

“This is where that guy lives, he brought the duck over to play,” Osheen said happily as he unloaded the duck from the boat and held it in one hand and the other toy in his other. He started jumping them around on the washcloth as Rylon chuckled and stood up. The kangalion grabbed a clean towel from the cabinet to his side then unfolded it as he started to let the water out of the tub.

The cub turned toward the drain, watching in fascination as the water formed a whirlpool around the edge of the drain and started making a sucking noise. Osheen crawled over, placing his hands on either side of the tiny whirlpool, then tried to scoop it up, causing it to deform. As the cub’s paws moved the water started to swirl again, and Rylon let the cub watch it drain out before moving in with the unfolded soft towel and scooping the cub up. “Alright lil man, time to get out of the tub,” he said with a chuckle as Osheen squealed from getting picked up so unexpectedly.

The faun giggled as he was carried along and dried off expertly by his dad. The two of them went along to the nursery like this, and Rylon took a few minutes longer to continue to dry the cub off. Osheen couldn’t help but giggle a bit, he was highly ticklish, but Rylon took care to make sure it didn’t get too intense for the cub. Rylon finally set Osheen down on the changing table, and chuckled at the damp cub, “Alright lil man, time to get you dressed for bed and then I’ll read you a bedtime story.”

Osheen looked slightly pouty, he never liked being told it was time for bed. Rylon chuckled though, he knew that Osheen loved hearing bedtime stories. The kangalion pulled out one of the thicker nighttime diapers and started padding the cub’s rear as he laid on top of the table. “But I’m not sleepy yet!” Osheen said, sounding nearly indignant as Rylon powdered and oiled his diaper area rather thoroughly. The cub hadn’t had a messy diaper today, and he Rylon knew one was incoming whether it was that night or tomorrow, so he’d rather be safe than sorry.

“Well, that’s okay, I wanna read some bedtime stories and relax anyway. I’ll let you pick out the stories, but first we need to get you a bottle ready little guy,” Rylon said as he pulled out a fresh set of footed sleepers. These were mostly white, but had a bright blue fish pattern in various sizes that brought quite a bit of color to the thick flannel sleeper. Rylon knew it might be too warm for the first part of the night, but by the middle of the night it would ensure the cub was protected from the chill of the early spring night air.

As he zipped the sleeper up the back Rylon returned to the kitchen with the cub on one hip. He moved to the sink and grabbed the other clean bottle from the drainer before starting to mix up a big nighttime bottle. He put it in the microwave, then while it was heating he carried Osheen over to the bookcase and bent down with the cub to hold him near the row of bedtime books.

Osheen looked over the titles on the shelf carefully, passing by several of the slick backed books with smiling characters on them only to settle on the big mother goose book that he liked the most. As Osheen moved to pull the heavier book off the shelf Rylon grabbed it and helped the cub pull it out without dropping it. The microwave rang, Rylon grabbed the bottle, and the two of them went back to the nursery where Rylon sat in a rocking chair he kept in this room explicitly for this purpose.

---

As the two of them sat down Rylon took the book from Osheen and handed the cub the bottle. The faun popped the nipple in his mouth, as Rylon opened to the first poem inside and started to read it. Though Osheen tried his best to keep his eyes open, the gentle rocking of the chair and Rylon’s steady voice as he read through the old nursery rhymes in the book steadily made his eyes grow heavier. He sucked at the bottle more out of reflex as he grew more and more tired, and Rylon stopped as he felt the bottle drop down on his knee.

“Good night lil man,” he said quietly, kissing the back of the cub’s head before standing up gently and carrying the heavily breathing Osheen over to the crib. He slowly lowered the faun into place, then took a moment to tuck the blankets in around him before quietly walking to the door and turning the light off. Rylon moved back to the kitchen area and returned the book of nursery rhymes, something that had been in his family for some time, to its place on the bedtime stories shelf.

Rylon pulled out his phone and, true to his word earlier in the day, pulled up the picture he’d taken of Osheen sitting in the sand castle. He pushed the print button, and the wireless printer he’d set up buzzed to life and started printing out the picture. He moved with it over to the fridge, taking a moment to hang it before stepping back to admire it proudly. He’d have to make sure to show Osheen when he woke up the next day.

The kangalion moved into his bedroom, turning on the baby monitor tablet and listening to the quiet breathing of the cub as he watched tv in the dark. He occasionally heard Osheen stir in his sleep, but never saw Osheen get up or heard the tell-tale noise of the cub calling out for his daddy. Rylon reflected on the day, smiling as he remembered back to all the fun Osheen had on the playground. The cub was growing up, every day was something new, soon enough he’d be in school.

For now, however, Rylon simply smiled knowing that he was going to be there for as much of Osheen’s time as a cub as he could. They may grow up too fast, but he’d make sure he was there for every new experience he could be.

Rylon sat watching television for several hours, always listening and keeping an eye on his cub. He eventually drifted to sleep to the background noise of some mundane crime show. The soft sounds of blissful rest kept playing from the monitor at his side, set up so that if Osheen woke at all during the night the lion would be ready to attend to his needs in a moment’s notice.

Life was good.